Brandon Bostian, the engineer of the
speeding Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia, has said he has no
recollection of the crash.
The 32-year-old experienced
concussion, 14 stitches in his head and more in his leg from the wreck,
his lawyer Robert Goggin told ABC News.
An eighth body was recovered in the Amtrak rubble on Thursday, fire officials said.
Officials said all 243 passengers who were on the train are accounted for.
The train was going 106mph (170km/h) before derailing on a curve where the speed limit is 50 mph.
Federal investigators don't know why the train was travelling that fast.
A
cadaver dog did a search of the area and found the eighth body, which
was sent to the medical examiner's office. The identity will only be
revealed if the family chooses to, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter
said at the news conference.
Mr Goggin, who is speaking for Mr
Bostian because he hasn't given a statement to law enforcement yet, said
Mr Bostian remembers coming into the curve, trying to reduce the speed
of the train and then getting knocked out. He doesn't remember using the
emergency brake.
Mr Bostian is cooperating with police and
consented to a blood test along with giving up his mobile phone. He
claims not to have been drinking or taking drugs.
Mr Nutter said the engineer was "clearly reckless and irresponsible".
"Part of the focus has to be, what was the engineer doing? Why are you travelling at that rate of speed?" Mr Nutter said.
He defended his choices of words at the news conference.
"I
don't think any common sense person would think it was OK to travel at
that level of speed knowing there was a significant speed restriction on
the curve," Mr Nutter said.
The National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB), however, was not as quick to blame Mr Bostian. Accident
investigators want to give Mr Bostian some time to recover from shock
before they start talking to him about the accident.
The victims
Jim Gaines, a 48-year-old father of two and software
architect for the Associated Press, was travelling home to New Jersey
following a work conference in Washington DC
Justin Zemser, a-20 year-old Navy Midshipman, was on leave from the Naval Academy in Maryland, and was visiting family in New York
Wells Fargo senior vice-president Abid Gilani, the company confirmed
Rachel Jacobs, a CEO of a small tech company and mother of a 2-year-old son.
Derrick Griffith, a dean of student affairs for New York's Medgar Evers College.
More: The victims of the Amtrak derailment Mr
Bostian worked for Amtrak as a conductor for nine years. He became an
engineer in 2010. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia
in 2006.
Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman said the agency expects to have
limited service from New York to Philadelphia by Monday with the
possibility of full service Tuesday.
He pledged to have Positive
Train Control, which may have prevented the accident, installed in the
entire Northeast Corridor by year's end.
Amtrak has been working on installing the system since 2008.
"We will probably be the only railroad in the Western Hemisphere with Positive Train Control," Boardman said.
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